“Wow! You just played the best football game of your life! And you have now stepped into another level.”

The message was for New Orleans Saints defensive lineman David Onyemata.

It came from University of Manitoba Bisons head coach Brian Dobie.

I never thought I’d see another made-in-Manitoba story like Israel Idonije’s.

To grow up in Brandon, take up football late in high school, really learn the game at the U of M and then not only crack the NFL, but carve out a 10-year career – that’s a Cinderella story you shouldn’t expect to see more than once in a lifetime.

Onyemata, the first Manitoban taken in the NFL draft, might be in the process of one-upping it.

In his third year with the 11-2 Saints, the 6-foot-4, 300-pounder has served notice he’s a force to be reckoned with on one of the best teams in the NFL.

New Orleans Saints defensive tackle David Onyemata (93) grabs Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) during the first half of an NFL football game in Atlanta on September 23, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Mark Humphrey

One of the most leaned-on players in the Saints’ rotation of D-linemen, the 26-year-old has upped his game this year, his three-sack performance in a game against Dallas two weeks ago a statement game if there ever was one.

“It was just perfect timing,” Onyemata, on the phone from the Saints facility, was saying on Thursday.

That’s about as much bravado as you’ll get from Onyemata, who describes his season so far as “pretty decent,” the Cowboys game as “one of” his best games.

“There’s a lot I could still do better at,” he added. “But I’ve still got this stretch at the end. So I just gotta finish strong.”

Sitting back in Winnipeg watching that performance a couple Sundays ago, Dobie was beside himself, bursting with pride and outright joy for the quiet, humble Nigerian kid who showed up at his office door some eight years ago without a clue about football.

“I texted him before it actually ended,” Dobie said. “He was still on the field. There was probably five minutes left in the game.

“Last year he was playing well. But you can see it now. He’s not a guy in the NFL now. He’s an NFL player. He has arrived. He’s legit. He’s doing damage. And it’s not going to stop.”

How did it ever start?

With an innocent knock on the door of a coach’s office in Winnipeg.

“In football terms, he was a child,” Dobie recalled. “The NFL wouldn’t have been a drop on his radar screen.He just wanted to be part of something. Join the football club. Have a little college experience. He didn’t even know what he was getting into.”

“It’s still surreal,” he said. “I think about it sometimes. It’s crazy. You just sit there, like, ‘Wow – this is really happening.’ But at the same time you’ve got to take it all in, because it goes by fast, as well. It’s already my third year.”

Idonije wasn’t this established, this much of a force, in his third season. It took him five years to record his fifth start, six to record his third quarterback sack.

Onyemata started six games in the back half of last season, just his second in the NFL, plus another four to open this year.

Where Idonije made his name on special teams at the start, Onyemata is making it as a dual-threat on what some are calling the best interior-line duo in the league.

“He’s really one of our starters and there’s a rotation we use,” Saints head coach Sean Payton said after that Cowboys game. “But his performance was fantastic and encouraging because he and Sheldon (Rankins) both have done a good job in there.”

A recent piece at profootballfocus.com ranked Onyemata 15th in overall pass/run grade among the 76 interior linemen who’d played at least 300 snaps.

“Both ways I’m good,” Onyemata said, allowing himself some praise. “I can play the run and I can play the pass. It’s just finishing on a couple sacks… I’ve had a couple of those where the quarterback got away. Last week I had one of those that I could have finished. Little things like that.”

Onyemata says he’s loving what he does, although if you ask him about the NFL lifestyle, you don’t get much.

It seems checking out the sights on Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter isn’t his style.

“I’m not out there like that,” he said. “I’m hardly out. It’s pretty much football the whole time, you know? You come to work in the morning, you’re done at five, you come back home and watch some film on the opposing team. It’s pretty much football 24-7 out here.”

But he loves it. Loves the practice, the prep. And of course, the games. Especially at home.

Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys is sacked by David Onyemata #93 of the New Orleans Saints in the first quarter at AT&T Stadium on November 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

“It’s been amazing. You have 70,000 people screaming. It’s something to experience. Sometimes you can’t even hear… it’s amazing playing out here.”

And he’s going to do it as long as he can, as well as he can.

“I’m going to do it,” Onyemata said. “I can’t put a time frame on it. But as long as I’m having fun doing it, I’m going to keep doing it.”

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